Where did you surf today?

Yep. Huge area and very hard to know where you are unless you're in the right place and a set is pouring in.

I know heaps more now, and have some good ideas for my next go. Nailed the tide (there's a massive harbour draining out and 3m of tide, so outgoing is a no-no if you're paddling it as I was.

udo wrote:

Yes Cringe ...like those old Oakley Thermo Nuclear Protection stickers

Yes add JET PILOT stickers as well, extra cringe

That’s an interesting river bar set up IB, the bar looks a lot narrower and defined than the ones you see on the Oz east coast.

Distracted wrote:

That’s an interesting river bar set up IB, the bar looks a lot narrower and defined than the ones you see on the Oz east coast.

That's due to the angle of the photo. It's a harbour bar, not a river bar. 30km2 of harbour with 3m of tide differential, so it's a massive bar (1.5km deep and 2km wide) as so much water and sediment flows in and out.

Yeah good timing of the tides and working it safely with such a big playing field and currents that would be insurmountable by most once the tide tuns.

Craig wrote:

Yeah good timing of the tides and working it safely with such a big playing field and currents that would be insurmountable by most once the tide tuns.

30km2 x 3m = 90 million m3 of water rushing in and out every tide cycle. Low incoming is your friend.

You can stick Surfing Solo out there up ya Ring....No Farkn Way !

Haha!

Looks sick I.B.

I'm picturing paddling out on a Webby 8'6"

Island Bay wrote:

Yep. Huge area and very hard to know where you are unless you're in the right place and a set is pouring in.

I know heaps more now, and have some good ideas for my next go. Nailed the tide (there's a massive harbour draining out and 3m of tide, so outgoing is a no-no if you're paddling it as I was.

Did you get any good ones IB? Pretty hard work without a ski. I've done it a few times paddling but won't bother without power assist these days. Mostly it's too fast but looks awesome so hope you got some goodies. Warm as lately too ay

Quite an effort IB. Those bars can be tricky if you get washed inside the bar, lots of bumpy dead water and very tricky to punch back across it.

Did you get any good ones IB? Pretty hard work without a ski. I've done it a few times paddling but won't bother without power assist these days. Mostly it's too fast but looks awesome so hope you got some goodies. Warm as lately too ay

Hey pooman

No ski or RIB yet, but will get motorised soon enough. Until then it's long paddles and bigger boards.

Got a few keepers out there, among the ones that ran away from me. Enough to whet my appetite.

poo-man wrote:

Island Bay wrote:

Yep. Huge area and very hard to know where you are unless you're in the right place and a set is pouring in.

I know heaps more now, and have some good ideas for my next go. Nailed the tide (there's a massive harbour draining out and 3m of tide, so outgoing is a no-no if you're paddling it as I was.

Did you get any good ones IB? Pretty hard work without a ski. I've done it a few times paddling but won't bother without power assist these days. Mostly it's too fast but looks awesome so hope you got some goodies. Warm as lately too ay

Pumping this morning, poo-man. Slight devil wind marred it at the end. Coupla bazzas, though no exit.

Wow it's small. Cape Sorrel at 0.75m sig wave height!

Edit: Actually, seemingly never-ending degrees of smallness

Really fun waves in Narnia today

Surfed my new obsession again this morning. Maybe my best session in a year?

Unbelievable waves.

How big over there IB? Saw your charts with that south pac low and thought of about 10 different spots that would have been all time!

West coast, crg. 1.5m @ 17sec :-)
.

Fun waves this morning, no one out. A little spike in the swell through the morning while out there. Long way out and overcast, kinda spooky but some good long rides. Swell was bombing yesterday but too much for the spots around this little stretch. A little 80degree E swell also in the water so might check some E facing coasts tomorrow. Still trips me out that we get dead East swells here. This mornings swell was a stock standard SSW. Looks like the summer winds from hell are finally starting to clock around to a more favourable quadrant. Hip hip hooray. Sick of surfing the softboard just to get wet!

Island Bay wrote:

Surfed my new obsession again this morning. Maybe my best session in a year?

Unbelievable waves.

What board IB?

goofyfoot wrote:

Island Bay wrote:

Surfed my new obsession again this morning. Maybe my best session in a year.

Unbelievable waves.

What board IB?

6’10 DS

Still in a state of mild disbelief…

You lucky man..
Solo again?

Yes. And yes.

Island Bay wrote:

West coast, crg. 1.5m @ 17sec :-)
.

That’s a nice combo IB :-)
I was thinking east coast but any side will do if it’s pumping!

Sick IB! Nailing it!

Also I finally figured out where it is. Does the bank change shape a bit?

Have you been to NZ Craig?
If so did you surf Raglan?

Craig wrote:

Also I finally figured out where it is. Does the bank change shape a bit?

You'd think so, but it's been pretty much unchanged the last 4 months. The beach is constantly changing.

Been but not surfing, one I was going to do before COVID.

IB that pic you posted nth or Sth Island?

One of life's big questions!

Somehow managed to be even better today. Got a few mindbenders.

I.B.- Solo surf ?

No! Three friendly chaps came out on a ski, parked it, and then we all had a good time.

The magic happened before that, though.

Dillon Beach, Marin County, Ca.
Small mush. Time of year for that.
Still got wet/had a blast tho.
Still a kook, so small mush is less of a bummer?

Still pretty cold over there Wax24?
I admit I googled where Dillon Beach is.

2 days ago, had air temp at 16C and water temp at 10C. Dillon gets good when it does, but onshores blow it out often, as they did pretty much when i was there. It's a ways down a backroad, so takes a bit of a drive. Surf reports are not always reliable (or i haven't learned how to intuit them well enough prob more true.) So, once i'm there, i'm willing to paddle out into almost anything. If you googled it, on the left side of whatev pic, you'll see the mouth of Tomales Bay to the south. Thought to be a breeding ground for GWs, so Dillon can feel spooky. There have been multiple attacks over the years (and even more on divers at Elephant Rock, just to the south of Tomales Point,) but no fatalities that i know of. I think Rodney Fox had some impactful experience there, but forget any details. Just to the south of that (maybe not in pic, or in pic if view is widened) is Point Reyes. Known for large, mostly seasonal, population of elephant seals. But a beauty of a spot and prob my fave.

Just tried to figure out how to post a good pic that shows what i described. Man! I am a tech dummy.

Edit actually I’ll delete that someone will have an issue

Thanx Seeds. The red "you are here" marker in the top pic runs along Bodega Bay, with Doran being at the top. Another spot. And then there is Bodega Head there, you can see, and just north of that, where the coast hwy gets back on the coast, is Salmon Creek, my third spot and most heavily surfed local spot. All cold, all murky. But it's what i got.

That’s cold hey. I’ve never surfed in conditions that cool.

It's really all i know so.... yeah, it's cold, but i grew up thinking the ocean EVERYWHERE was cold, murky, and filled with pointers. I have a hard time imagining surfing without a steamer. Seems like it'd be nice tho.

wax24 wrote:

It's really all i know so.... yeah, it's cold, but i grew up thinking the ocean EVERYWHERE was cold, murky, and filled with pointers. I have a hard time imagining surfing without a steamer. Seems like it'd be nice tho.

Ha! You never saw photos of Hawaii or Bali growing up?

Bought a new board 4 weeks ago last Wednesday. It arrived a day after the big wet, again, started. I just couldn’t bring myself to paddle it out in the dirty, smelly, fetid, brown water. That’s a bit over 2 weeks without a surf. Another week in Adelaide for WOMAD (now semi-retired I had no excuse for not going with the missus - got to see Cat Empire once more for their second last gig before major lineup changes - so good). So that’s another week down. Back to Sydney and water still terrible. Nup, can’t do it. That’s 4 weeks down.

Finally, Central coast beachie, Wednesday 4 weeks to the day since I got it, water brown but not smelly, more heavy rain predicted for another week to 10 days, better take the chance.

Slight onshore, chest to head high, a few other guys out, bigly difference in board dimensions to adjust to but got everything I paddled for, finished up with a nice left to the beach (60 metres-ish) followed by a nice right also to the sand. Enough to get a feel for what the board will be like. Board has a bit of heft to it (6’6” and a few litres in there no doubt) so there is a bit of a ‘swing weight’ adjustment to be made, but boy it picks up a wave.

Even better, the other guys out there were complaining about how many waves they were missing with the bumps and lumps. (They were, I saw ‘em) Normally I’m that guy. Felt good to be the other guy.

Mitchell Rae Outer Islands board. He talked me up from what I was looking at ordering. Told him my age, just gone 60, and he said, Nup, you need this, it’s just too hard to compete with the young ‘uns on a 6’0” board.

He was right. He has delivered a board that does just what he said it would. Great reason to talk to shaper, especially one as knowledgeable as Mitchell.

It’ll be a peach when I get some fitness under my belt.

Nice
By how much did Mitchell talk you up in Total ?

It was a lot Udo, but knew that going in. V-stringer, colour etc, went the whole hog without going down the flex tail option. $2K.

Have you seen the fins he’s selling? Things of beauty on their own. 5 fins included. Riding it as a quad on his recommendation for the moment.

Got a sizeable tax refund last year and thought I would spend some of it on myself. Call me selfish.

Yes ..they are nice Fins
What i meant was how much did Mitchell talk you up in the Dimensions....
What you thought you needed and what the Master suggested / and gave you ?
And its Cool to see the ol Buggar Riding a Twinnie ....an 8ft Twinnie.

Post a pic when you can, Batfink. And congratulations!

Surfed 1 foot dribble today. Not newsworthy.
But got a fb notification from this day 13 years ago.
Cyclone Jasper.
The unidentified surfer in the article is Steve Powell from Caba. He was charging.
In my 20 years on the East Coast, this and the 2001 July swell stood out as the two most memorable surfs.
I remember grabbing a 7'3 from my neighbours garage because i didn't have any big boards.
Had to paddle out from the N side of the headland, all the way out to nearly level with the bombie just to get to the South side. Got caught inside and shit myself, thinking i was gonna die. Huge peanut gallery up there.
Got a couple amongst the one tow crew out just before dark. Surfed Snapper that morning too..as big as i'd ever surfed it up there but the wind was pretty crook for it..NW.
Was a pretty phenomenal day. Never seen this place that big and clean before or since but apparently there was a day a couple of years ago, maybe the Black NorEaster swell. The place is generally fickle and uncrowded when it gets big, except for a couple of tow guys usually. A mate of mine got a stack of great photos from that day. Incredible shots.
Anyway, just a little flashback better than the shit i surfed this morning!
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/tweed-heads/sport/surfers-big...

bluediamond wrote:

Surfed 1 foot dribble today. Not newsworthy.
But got a fb notification from this day 13 years ago.
Cyclone Jasper.
The unidentified surfer in the article is Steve Powell from Caba. He was charging.
In my 20 years on the East Coast, this and the 2001 July swell stood out as the two most memorable surfs.
I remember grabbing a 7'3 from my neighbours garage because i didn't have any big boards.
Had to paddle out from the N side of the headland, all the way out to nearly level with the bombie just to get to the South side. Got caught inside and shit myself, thinking i was gonna die. Huge peanut gallery up there.
Got a couple amongst the one tow crew out just before dark. Surfed Snapper that morning too..as big as i'd ever surfed it up there but the wind was pretty crook for it..NW.
Was a pretty phenomenal day. Never seen this place that big and clean before or since but apparently there was a day a couple of years ago, maybe the Black NorEaster swell. The place is generally fickle and uncrowded when it gets big, except for a couple of tow guys usually. A mate of mine got a stack of great photos from that day. Incredible shots.
Anyway, just a little flashback better than the shit i surfed this morning!
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/tweed-heads/sport/surfers-big...

Yes, the photos from Monday 6/6/2016 black nor'easter I've seen were pretty incredible at that spot.